Retribution
by Elanshaw
Summary: The CBI team learns that obsession leaves a deadly mark. Jane whump
1. Chapter 1

**The Mentalist is a great show and I watch it each week…**

**As I can't seem to get my Jane whump fill from the show, I thought I'd throw on my writing gloves and create some whumping of my own. Hope you enjoy it...Let me know what you think.**

***Sadly, I own nothing regarding the "The Mentalist", except for my love of the show.***

**Retribution**

**Chapter 1**

The first thing Patrick noticed was how cold he was.

Then the pain hit; like a jackhammer to his head making him groan.

Slowly opening his eyes, he blinked heavily and saw a dirty grey ceiling above him.

_Wha?_

He tried to focus, but everything was swirling in his mind; like water circling a drain, disappearing before

he had a chance to latch on to anything.

Patrick shivered, thinking how a nice hot shower and some tea would clear his mind. However,

confusion swelled in him when he tried to sit up and found that he couldn't. Glancing down at himself

he was shocked to find that he was completely nude and was cinched tightly by the wrists and ankles to

a bed that was not his own.

"Hey…!" he rasped in surprise; his throat instantly seizing up on him making him succumb to a heavy

coughing fit that turned his head into a vise of complete and utter agony. He hissed, dropping his head

back onto the bed as he clinched his eyes tight trying to ride through the pain.

This wasn't his bedroom. He wasn't home. No bloody face smiled down from the wall beside him.

_Where am I..what's happening?_

He was lying on a thin mattress on a small iron posted bed in the centre of the small room. The walls

were the same color as the ceiling, a dirty grey; the only light coming from a bulb hanging low from the

ceiling above him.

Someone chuckled behind him and Patrick's eyes flew open. He tilted his head as far back as he could,

trying to see who was in the room with him.

"Who's there?" He tried to curl his body to hide his exposed nudeness to no avail... "Hello?"

"Hello?" came back a soft voice mocking him...

"Who are you?" whispered Patrick

"Who are you?" echoed the voice.

Patrick bit his lip and pulled his head forward staring at the wall in front of him. He tried to focus on

what had happened, how he ended up in this predicament; but his mind was as blank as the wall he was

looking at.

"Red John." He said, suddenly sure that he was about to come face to face with his nemesis, the

murderer of his family.

He heard a chair push back somewhere behind him and flinched when he felt a hand brush through his

hair.

"Shh..shhh.." came the voice…

Patrick violently jerked away from the touch causing him to see black spots in his vision, the pain in his

head tremendous, his eyes losing focus...

He saw a blurred figure come around the bed to stand next to him.

"Hello, Patrick."

He tried to refocus his eyes but couldn't. "Red…Red John?" he murmured.

"Guess again." came the voice.

Then white hot pain raced through Patrick and he screamed, his jaw and eyes flying open in shock.

A taser was pushed against his chest and the blurred figure pressed down hard, laughing heartily as

Patrick's body, locked in a seizure shook the bed wildly. Then as suddenly as it came, the taser was

pulled away and Patrick fell into the darkness that had beckoned him.

The man standing next to the bed, bent down and grabbed a handful of Patrick's blood matted hair,

jerking his head harshly off the bed and whispered into the unconscious consultant's ear.

"Let the payback begin."

**TBC…**

**So, what do you think so far? **


	2. Chapter 2

**Thanks for the reviews so far. Some interesting viewpoints. =)  
Gotta say though, I like Jane, that's why I'm going to put him through the wringer...  
****I'm a little weird that way…  
Anyways, on with the show…**

**Chapter 2**

Lisbon sighed and flipped over to the last page of the paperwork she was dealing with. She hated

paperwork, but it was the result of a job well done. Her team had closed their latest case the night

before. They had their murder suspect in lockup, a major drug dealer who killed two of his men who had

been working with him when he heard that they were planning on turning straight.

She smiled, remembering Jane's antics in the interrogation room. He had been his most annoying,

smirking self but had somehow gotten the suspect to confess. She didn't know how he did it, she didn't

know how she put up with it, but at this point...she wouldn't have it any other way.

Lisbon scribbled off her signature on the last page and closed the file with a sigh of relief. Taking a sip of

her lukewarm coffee she glanced at the clock:

11:45am.

She frowned slightly, stood and stretched then went into the central office glancing at her colleagues,

then at Jane's couch; he wasn't on it.

"Anyone know where Jane is?"

Van Pelt turned to her, "Sorry, no boss."

Rigsby came out of the kitchen with two mugs of steaming coffee; he placed one on Van Pelt's desk then

moved back to his own.

"No boss, haven't seen him."

Cho was on the phone; he glanced up at her and shook his head.

Frowning again, Lisbon turned back to her office and pulled out her cellphone punching in Jane's

number. Just because they closed a case, didn't mean Jane got the day off. She'd have to explain to him

what being a professional really meant…

Lisbon felt her heart stop when an automated voice came on:

"_This number is no longer in service; please try your call again."_

She pulled the phone away from her ear staring at it and then shook her head slightly; she must have

dialed the number wrong.

Slowly she punched Jane's number in again and waited.

"_This number is no longer in service; please…"_

Lisbon hung up, a feeling of dread creeping over her.

_Why would he have disconnected his phone?_

She thought back to the night before, looking for any signs of trouble.

They had been finishing up their closed-case pizza and she had noticed Jane had looked really tired so

she ordered him to go home to get some rest. He refused as usual, but she had put her foot down until

he finally gave up, hands held high in mock defeat.

"_Woman, you need to relax! Two words... Chamomile tea."_ he had teased, but he stood and had said

goodbye to her and the rest of the team and had sauntered off to his car and home.

So where was he?

She held back any panic that was trying to take over and decided to think with a level

head. There would be an explanation for all of this, Jane probably lost his phone and cancelled his

service. Yeah…that was it…but Jane would have called her from another line to tell her what happened.

Or he'd already be in, sipping tea on the couch lamenting about how small cellphones were now a days

and how easily they could get lost.

Lisbon strode from her office. She told the team what she heard and asked Cho to accompany her to

Jane's house. With Red John still on the loose she wanted to make sure that Jane was okay and to chew

him out and let Cho at him if he was home in his bathrobe drinking tea and claiming he needed a day

off.

However, when they arrived at Jane's house that wasn't the case; his car was in the driveway, but the

front door was ajar, the house dark.

They found his car keys on a table near the front entrance. At the foot of the stairs they found a small

pool of blood and Lisbon had felt a part of herself break apart.

_She shouldn't have told him to go home…_

"Maybe it's not his blood." whispered Cho seeing the sudden paleness on his boss' face.

She had nodded and they searched the house, but to no avail. There was no sign of Jane.

Lisbon had tried to keep her breathing even as she called the rest of the team and told them what they

had found. She ordered them to get as many people out to Jane's house as soon as possible.

_They would find him._

_xxxxx_

Hours later, when the blood they found came back positive for Jane's, the team sat in silence.

Jane was…well...Jane; nothing was supposed to happen to him. It had to be Red John.

"Everything stops until we find him." ordered Lisbon. "Everything." She turned and marched off to

Bertram's office to tell him that her team would be working solely on getting Jane back and she would

dare him to deny them that.

The rest of them nodded in agreement and the top notch CBI team got to work.

xxxxx

He didn't want to wake up, the pull of the sweet darkness was too great; but slowly, Patrick opened his

eyes, groaning as his body rippled in pain.

"Lisbon…" he whispered.

"No, keep trying." came the voice. "But I'm not ready for you to wake up yet."

Patrick felt the taser against his skin, this time it was held longer against him until his screams turned to

gasps for breath. His world flashed white, then red, then black.

xxxxx

Cho glanced in Lisbon's office as he walked by. She was still seated on the couch going through the file

they created for Jane. A list of suspects they considered dangerous who wanted to harm Jane (and

there were a lot of them, Jane had a knack of pissing people off) were in the file. They had to cover all

their bases, if Red John didn't take Jane, they had to look elsewhere. Cho slowly walked back to his desk

sitting down heavily in his chair.

"She's still in there." he said to Van Pelt and Rigsby who were waiting by his desk.

"She's been in there for two days now." sighed Van Pelt staring at the closed door of Lisbon's office.

"We gotta find Jane." whispered Rigsby, sadness shading his face as he thought about what would

happen to the team if they didn't; what would happen to Lisbon if they didn't.

**TBC**


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

Patrick gasped into wakefulness when a bucket of ice cold water was thrown on him. Shivering harshly,

it took him a few moments to remember where he was; then the face of his captor appeared over him

their faces inches apart.

"Ah, there you are; thought you were planning on sleepin' forever." smiled the man.

He pulled his face back and Patrick finally got a good look at the man who had him. He was

middle –aged with brown greying hair and deep grey eyes and was wearing what looked like

army-surplus clothing.

"You..you're not Red John?" asked Jane, grimacing at the pain shooting through his cold body.

"No."

"Why are you…you doing this? Do I know you?"

The man grinned and Patrick feared the look of utter madness in his eyes.

"I'm Everett Clauson."

Patrick squinted, trying to go through his mind looking for any recognition of that name; he came up

empty.

"We've never met." said Clauson. "You did however know my half-brother; Lucas..Lucas Milner, ring any

bells in that noggin of yours, Patrick?"

He struggled, but couldn't come up with a face to match the name.

"Well! Musta hit you with that shovel harder than I thought!" Clauson grinned. "Let me bring you up to

speed. You and your yahoo police friends were working on an inside trading case about a year

ago...remember?"

Clauson sighed at Patrick's blank expression then continued.

"Lucas was just doing what needed to be done in this messed up world of ours. But to catch him, you

made him think that his own father had turned against him. OUR own father!" Clauson yelled; shaking

the side of the bed causing Patrick to groan out loud, his stomach churning at the sudden movement.

"Well of course Lucas had to kill him; there's nothing worse than betrayal. Then…then to find out our

dad had nothing to do with anything! He was innocent...and you used him to get what you wanted.

Now he's sitting in jail and our dad is dead…and you...you just got a tsk tsk and a slap on your wrist! I've

heard all about you Mr. Jane. I know of the all the lives you've ruined over the years."

"I'm sorry." whispered Patrick.

"No." snarled Clauson. "You're not…but you will be."

Clauson walked to the back of the room behind where Patrick lay and pulled a small table over to the

side of the bed. On the table was a wooden box with a latch. Clauson slowly turned back the lid of the

box and pulled out a syringe filled with an amber liquid.

"I'm not a man of finance like my brother, Mr. Jane. But there's one thing I do know; one thing I'm

really good at doling out." he flicked the syringe and slowly brought it to Patrick's arm.

"No, please, no!"

"That one thing is pain, Patrick. I'm going to show you what it's all about."

He jabbed the syringe into Patrick's arm and injected the liquid. When he pulled the syringe out Clauson

cocked his head and smiled. Patrick screamed as the liquid flowed through his body like lava, burning

him, tearing him apart. Then he was swallowed by a tornado of pain that held him so tight; that he

couldn't pass out. So, like a fish out of water he lay gasping tethered to the bed his eyes unseeing, his

face screwed in agony.

xxxxx

Three weeks later, the CBI team started to lose hope. They had done everything they could and not one

lead had panned out, not one piece of evidence came to light, not one suspect shone brighter than the

others.

Bertram had called Lisbon into his office and told her that her team would have to move on to new

cases. He held his hand up to quiet her arguments and told her that they could still look into finding out

what happened to Jane, but that they had to move on. Lisbon only nodded at him, and then left his

office. She told her team and they promised each other that they'd still keep looking for Jane. Then

Lisbon had walked into her office closed the blinds to the room then lay down on her couch, curled in on

herself and cried.

xxxxx

Patrick curled up against the wall in a corner of the room searching for warmth. He yanked warily at the

chains around both wrists, the other end attached to an unmoving bolt in the floor. His ankles were also

chained, the chains long enough that he could curl into a fetal position without too much struggle, but

that was about as far as he could go. He didn't know how long he'd been in the room. It could have been

a few hours since he'd last seen Lisbon and the others, but he didn't think so. It felt...longer.

He had woken up a while back to find himself chained to the ground, the bed lying vacant in front of him

and couldn't help but smile a little when he saw that he had on a pair of jogging pants. He swore he'd

never go naked again if he ever got out of this predicament. Patrick looked at the bruises on his upper

torso. He had trouble remembering everything that had happened, but the bits and pieces of memories

he had made his stomach clench in fear and frustration. Clauson had been using him as a punching bag

and when he wasn't he was injecting him with what Patrick had come to know as liquid agony.

Clauson entered the room then, carrying a tray with a sandwich and a bottle of water. Patrick grunted

lunging at him, the chains making him rebound back against the ground. Clauson paused staring at

Patrick as he sat breathing harshly on the ground blue eyes full of hatred boring into him. He set the tray

down just at the edge of Patrick's reach, then pulled up the lone chair in the room and sat down facing

him.

Patrick eyed the food, then Clauson, then the food again. It could be drugged. He didn't want to take

the chance.

Clauson nodded at the food. "I know you're hungry, Patrick. It's been AGES since I've fed you. Come

on..eat up."

Patrick honestly couldn't remember the last time he ate…he was worried about the lapses in his

memory, but he realized once the food was placed in front of him that he was very hungry indeed. He

bit his lip watching the food and then looked at Clauson.

"They're going to find me, you know."

"Who? Your team?" snickered Clauson. "Patrick, what makes you think they're even looking for you?"

Clauson looked at him in pity. "Come now, eat up." He stood, pulled the chair far from Patrick's reach,

and then left the room.

Patrick frowned. "They're looking for me." he muttered, then turned to the closed door. "LISBON'S

LOOKING FOR ME!" he yelled, wincing at the pounding in his head.

_So how come she hasn't found me yet?_

He turned to the food; he really did need to eat. Pulling the tray towards him he closed his eyes and

took a bite.

Peanut butter never tasted so heavenly.

In less than five minutes he finished the sandwich and bottle of water. Leaning against the wall, Patrick

thought back to when he last saw Lisbon and the others. He remembered being in the office on his

couch...then…then he was here in this room…in hell …with a crazy man.

He yanked feebly at the chains around his wrists; Clauson had barely fed him and with the beatings and

drugging him Patrick knew he wouldn't be able to break free of the chains and escape. He had to find

some way to get to Clauson mentally. He was good at that...If he could just think clearly he knew he….

He bent forward as his stomach contracted then rolled heavily. He took a deep breath then groaned as

his eyesight started to waver in front of him.

Turning into the corner of the room he threw up harshly, his whole body constricting and

contracting…the vomit spattering on his chest and pants.

_Damn, the food __**was**__ drugged._

Patrick crawled backwards away from the puke as far as the chains would let him then sat with his back

to the wall, despair enveloping his mind.

_Lisbon, please…help me…_

The door to the room opened and Clauson walked back in, one hand behind his back. He glanced at

Patrick, then at the pool of vomit on the floor and spattered on Patrick's body.

Clauson's eyes narrowed. "You would do this; after all I've done for you? I give you food, I give you

clothing and this is how you repay me, by soiling everything?!" He pulled out a billy club from behind

his back and lunged at Patrick.

Patrick saw everything like he was looking up from the bottom of a well and barely got his arms up

around his head in time as Clauson attacked him raining down blows against his arms and chest.

"Food was dr-drugged!...S-stop...please…oh God!" he cried out.

When Clauson finally did stop, he lay across Patrick's curled in body breathing heavily; Patrick barely

conscious could only make small hitching noises.

Clauson closed his eyes nodding to himself, then smiled.

_He had a plan._

"I hope you can hear this. I told you I wasn't Red John, and that was true. But I never said I didn't know

who he was. You're a fool Patrick. He's been right in front of you for so long…Wayne Rigsby is the man

you hate, Patrick. He's the man who murdered your family…your little girl. He's Red John."

_No! _thought Patrick, but no other conscious thought left him as his eyes rolled in his head and darkness

claimed him.

**TBC**

**Oh oh! What's Clauson up to? Stay tuned folks, there's twists up ahead! ;)**


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

_Three months later._

Lisbon sighed and turned to look at the alarm clock on her nightstand.

4:00 a.m.

She barely slept anymore. Her dreams filled with nightmarish images of Jane and a shadowy Red John torturing him; Jane's body lying somewhere, slowly

decaying because they couldn't find him in time. They were still trying to find him, but with each passing day, with each month that dropped away since he

was taken; the case had gone cold.

She needed to get up, go to work, distract herself…anything to stop the images from bombarding her, from tearing her heart apart.

Lisbon rolled out of bed and slouched off to the shower; she'd head to the office and get some work done.

xxxxx

She met up with Van Pelt as she entered the CBI building.

"Hi boss." Van Pelt smiled. "Couldn't sleep either, huh?"

Lisbon smiled faintly at her agent.

When they got off the elevator on their floor, Van Pelt headed for the kitchen.

"I'll make us some coffee." she offered.

"Thanks." smiled Lisbon, "I'll be in my office."

A few minutes later as Lisbon settled down with a sigh behind her desk with her first file of the morning, she heard a loud gasp and crash coming from the

outer office area.

Frowning, Lisbon stood and opened her door. "Van Pelt?" she called out.

"Boss!" came back the reply.

Lisbon quickly exited her office, her hand not far from the gun in her holster. She turned towards the entrance to the central office and found Van Pelt

standing there frozen, a puddle of coffee and porcelain shards from the two mugs she had dropped by her feet.

"Grace?" Lisbon moved to face her then turned to find what she was staring at in shock.

Lisbon's eyes widened; there was someone lying on Jane's couch. The person's face was hidden, turned towards the back of the couch, but he had blond hair,

and he was wearing a suit, like..

"Jane?" whispered Lisbon.

Her body jerked forward and she found herself running towards the couch.

"Jane!?"

She dropped to her knees by the couch and grabbed the shoulder of the person laying there slowly turning him over.

"Oh my God!"

It was Jane. Lisbon couldn't believe it. She turned to Van Pelt with tears in her eyes.

"Grace! Call 911!"

Van Pelt broke from her trance like state and ran to her phone.

Lisbon wiped the tears from her eyes and looked at Patrick. He was so pale and so still, blood stained his hair and side of his face.

_Please, don't let him be dead…_

She gently shook his arm. "Jane?" she whispered. His eyelids fluttered softly as she cupped his face with her hands and she noticed dark bruising around his

neck.

"Jane!?"

No response.

Lisbon turned, slowly moving her gaze down his body checking for any other wounds. He was wearing the same suit he had on when she last saw him months

before; it was wrinkled and scuffed. She took his hands in hers and held them tight, that's when she saw the bruises around his pale wrists.

She turned to Van Pelt who was rushing towards them.

"They're on their way!" said Van Pelt, eyes on Jane's still body. "He..he's not…?"

"No, he's alive!"

They both turned to look at their consultant, their friend, with tears in their eyes. Jane's hair was longer and scruffy and he had lost weight and looked so

abused. Lisbon grabbed Jane's hands tightly to her chest and held them there until the paramedics arrived and with short explanation she was off running

behind the gurney carrying her friend to the hospital; Van Pelt running towards her own car shouting wildly into her cellphone to Rigsby telling him the good

news and that he and Cho should meet them at the hospital.

Jane was back.

**TBC**


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

The waiting room was a study in emotions as the CBI team sat waiting to hear any news on Jane.

Cho sat staring at the closed doors to the emergency unit; his face, stoic.

Across from him, Rigsby and Van Pelt sat next to each other. Rigsby had his arm around her comforting her as she wiped at her tears. He patted her shoulder

while he watched Cho watch the doors.

Lisbon stood by the window in the waiting room, not really looking at anything outside; her eyes were turned inward trying to come to terms with the two

emotions warring within her, guilt and fear.

She felt guilty, for not doing more to find Jane and fear over what had been done to him.

"We should have done more to find him." said Van Pelt, tears streaming down her face.

Cho turned to her, "We looked everywhere for him. We did the best we could."

"Well it wasn't enough!" she shouted. "You didn't see him, it was horrible!"

Rigsby gripped her tightly and she leaned against his shoulder shuddering through her tears.

Lisbon turned to them. "Cho's right. We did the best we could. Jane was just...gone." She walked over and sat next to Cho. "He's going to be okay. We got

him back. He's going to be okay."

She wasn't sure if she was trying to convince them or herself.

6 hours and 2 coffee runs later, the doors to the emergency unit opened and a doctor came out glancing down at a clipboard.

"Family of Patrick Jane?"

They all stood and Lisbon stepped forward. "Yes, that's us."

The doctor glanced at them sensing their apprehension.

"Come with me."

They walked quickly behind the doctor down a hallway and to a private waiting room.

"Please have a seat."

They all sat and watched as the doctor pulled up a chair in front of them.

"My name is Doctor Salathiel, I was the on duty doctor when Mr. Jane came into Emergency."

"He's okay, right?" whispered Lisbon not looking the doctor in the eye, fearing his response.

The doctor sighed. "Mr. Jane is holding his own. I was told that he was a victim of abduction?"

"Yes." nodded Lisbon. "He's been missing for four months."

"And he just showed up back at his workplace?"

"Doctor," said Cho, his voice steady. "Get to the point. Is he going to be okay?"

The doctor stared at Cho for a beat then turned to everyone.

'Mr. Jane's skin is quite pale; this could be explained by him having been kept away from the outdoors for a long period of time. He has extensive bruising

and burn marks over most of his body, most likely from some type of taser weapon. He has signs that he had a severe concussion occurrence within the last

few months...and another more recent concussion not as bad, but still something to worry about. He has ligature marks around his neck by most likely an

attempted strangulation with some type of heavy rope. He has bruising around his wrists and ankles and…" he paused there. "Is Mr. Jane a drug user?"

"What!?" shouted Lisbon, shocked. "Of course not!"

The doctor shook his head sadly. "We found multiple injection marks on both of his arms. And we found a cocktail of drugs in his system that we're still trying

to sort out. I'm sorry, but all signs point to torture.

"Red John did this to him!" exclaimed Van Pelt.

Lisbon kept staring at the doctor. "No," she said. "He didn't. Red John would have kept him, or would have killed him. He wouldn't have returned him to us.

Dr. Salathiel, when can we see him?"

"We're going to move him to ICU in about half an hour. You can see him then; but only one of you at a time, five minutes each."

The doctor stood and looked at them. "Mr. Jane got through four months of hell and he's still breathing. He's strong. I have high hopes that he'll get through

this." He nodded at them and left the room.

"Thank you doctor." whispered Lisbon to the closing door.

She told the others they could take turns seeing Jane before her; she wanted to be last.

Once they were done she told them to head back to the office. They took the suit Patrick was brought in wearing back with them to have it checked for any

evidence that could be found. Also, the central office had become a crime scene and she wanted them to be there. They couldn't find Jane when he was

taken, but they sure as hell were going to find out who took him and she prayed that there was some evidence they'd find that would put them on the right

track.

xxxxx

Lisbon slowly walked into Patrick's room and watched him through hooded tear-filled eyes. He was almost the color of the sheets he lay on. His blonde hair

lay matted against his head, a reddish bruise prominent on the side of his head. She stepped forward and noticed that his wrists were wrapped in bandages.

He only had hospital pants on; his torso was bare. She gasped at the bruising visible now on his chest and arms. Some were faded but she saw patches of

dark blackish blue bruising that made her cringe in sympathy for him.

"Who did this to you, Jane? Who did this?" She gently touched his arm and lowered her head in silence.

xxxxx

"I thought I said only five minutes." Dr. Salathiel said walking towards Lisbon who hovered in front of Patrick's room sipping on a cup of vending machine

coffee.

It was a few hours later. Lisbon had called the office. There was no news yet.

The nurses are checking on him," she motioned towards his room. "I'm going back in when they're done. "

"No, you're not." said the doctor.

"Excuse me?" Lisbon's eyes narrowed in anger.

"Agent Lisbon, Mr. Jane will be out for a while. He needs to rest; he's been through a lot...He's your co-worker right?"

"Yes; and my friend."

"Then I'm sure he'd want you to do two things. To go take care of yourself, get something to eat, go home and rest...and he'd want you to find out who did

this to him. Am I right?"

Lisbon rolled her eyes in acquiescence. "You're right"

"So, please." He motioned her away from Patrick's door. "I have your number. I'll call you the moment anything changes."

"Anything, right?"

"Yes, Agent. Now let me go and take care of my patient."

Lisbon nodded but grabbed his arm as he turned. "He-he's cared about."

Dr. Salathiel touched her hand that held him. "That's quite obvious." He nodded then turned and entered Patrick's room.

Lisbon stared at the door for a moment then turned and strode down the hallway throwing her coffee cup in the nearby garbage. She'd return to the CBI and

try to put a rush on the efforts to hunt down Jane's abductor.

**TBC**


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

_Two days later_

"We got something, boss." said Cho at the open door to her office as he got off his cellphone.

Lisbon, who was standing by her desk going through the file on Jane's case with Rigsby turned to him.

"What?"

"The lab found a hair on Jane's suit that wasn't his. They tested it and it came back with a hit; Everett Clauson."

"Clauson?" frowned Lisbon. She turned to Van Pelt who was seated on the couch already typing furiously on her laptop.

"Everett Samuel Clauson, forty-four. Fired from his job as a Chemist a few years ago after assaulting two co-workers; spent a few months in prison."

Van Pelt's fingers flew across the keyboard.

"Boss, he was committed to Logan Psychiatric Hospital two years ago after he threatened to contaminate a water treatment plant…"

Lisbon shook her head. "So how could he be our perp?"

Van Pelt read her screen some more. "He escaped from the hospital ten months ago, killing a guard in the process."

"But how is he connected to Jane? Why would he abduct him?" asked Rigsby.

Van Pelt typed some more. "I don't see any obvious connection, let me check something else." A few minutes later she looked up at Lisbon. "Boss.."

"What is it?"

"His mother's name was Lydia Clauson. She married a Clay Milner when Everett was five years old; they divorced several years later. Lydia died in a car crash

3 years ago."

Milner, the name sounded familiar. Lisbon thought back to the year before; the team had been working an inside-trading case that had turned chaotic after

the ruse they used to trap the suspect resulted in him killing his own father, convinced the man had turned on him selling him out to the cops.

"Lucas Milner." Lisbon whispered.

"Clay Milner's younger son." said Van Pelt. "Everett Clauson's half-brother."

"How did we miss this?!" shouted Lisbon.

Weeks before, she had skimmed through Lucas Milner's file and had put it aside. There was no other living family listed and Lucas was in prison so she passed

him over as a viable suspect.

_If only she had looked closer!_

"He took Jane because of what we did to Lucas." She turned to Van Pelt.

"There's an address for a house; it was his mother's." said Van Pelt. "I forwarded the address to our phones."

Nothing else needed to be said. The team left the office, Cho already on the phone to the SWAT team.

xxxxx

The house was a non-descript home sitting a little back from the road at the end of the street.

Lisbon and her team silently followed the SWAT team and they surrounded the home. Within seconds they had busted inside shouting _CBI! Police!_ There was

a noisy crash coming from one of the rooms on the first floor. Rigsby and Lisbon got to the room first to find Everett Clauson half off his bed reaching for

something in his nightstand drawer; a broken lamp lay by the side of the bed.

"Freeze, Clauson!" shouted Rigsby.

But Clauson had already gotten hold of the gun he had kept in the drawer and slowly rolled off the bed so he was facing them; the bed between them. He

kept the gun lowered in his hand and watched them, his eyes wide and bright.

"Drop the gun!" shouted Lisbon.

Clauson turned to her, his smile manic. "Agent Lisbon". he nodded.

Lisbon frowned slightly.

Then Clauson turned to Rigsby and his smile grew even wider, like a creepy joker face.

"Agent Rigsby. Hello Wayne, how's tricks?"

Lisbon glanced at Rigsby and saw the confusion she also felt wash over his face.

"Drop the gun, Clauson." warned Rigsby taking a step forward his aim never wavering.

Clauson looked down at the gun he was holding then at the agents.

"Tick tock." he smiled, winking. Then in one fluid movement he stuck the gun in his mouth and pulled the trigger.

"No!" shouted Lisbon as the echo of the gunshot reverberated through the room.

Within seconds Cho, Van Pelt and some of the SWAT team were by the bedroom door their guns raised.

"Boss?" asked Cho, entering the room and seeing the stain of blood and brain matter on the far wall.

"We're..we're okay." Lisbon turned and pushed her way through the crowd of officers.

She felt sick to her stomach. She had wanted to interrogate Clauson.

One of the SWAT team members beckoned her to come with him. She called out to her team to follow and soon they found themselves in the back of the

kitchen facing a door with 6 heavy locks on it. A SWAT member well versed in locksmithing had been busy breaking through the locks and was on the last one

when they arrived. A minute later, they heard the last lock break and the door was slowly opened.

They all raised their guns and looked inside. There were steps leading down in the dark to some type of lower basement/cellar.

Lisbon took the lead and they turned on their flashlights and slowly made their way down the stairs to a small hallway with another door with two turn locks.

Once those were opened they made their way into the room. Cho felt for a light switch, found one and turned it on and their steps faltered at the scene

before them.

The smell was just a part of the horror in front of them. The room was small and smelled of urine and blood and other things they didn't even want to

consider. The walls were filthy, a bed lay in the center with blood and unknown stains on the thin mattress.

Blood-stained handcuffs lay open near the top and bottom of the bed. In a corner of the room lay chains attached to the ground, blood stains and what looked

like stale vomit surrounded them.

_This was where he must have held Jane._

Lisbon shook her head in horror. This room...it was like some sort of sadistic piece of hell...and Jane was here for _months_. She turned and rushed out of the

room and up the steps and threw up in the kitchen sink. The rest of her team looked at her as she rushed past them, but they didn't follow her; they knew

exactly what she was feeling.

Cho walked past the bed and an overturned chair and bent to look at a group of photos strewn across the floor. He gathered them all in his hand scowling at

the stickiness of them; then called out to Rigsby and Van Pelt and told them to follow him. They went back upstairs and found Lisbon in the kitchen; she had

washed away the vomit in the sink and was splashing her face with cold water.

"Boss." said Cho and walked over to the counter and spread out the photos he found. He used his sleeve to wipe away the muck and dirt covering some of

them.

The photos Cho had found showed candid shots of the CBI team leaving their homes, buying coffee, leaving work. Lisbon sifted through the pictures, the few

near the bottom silenced the team. They were crime scene pictures of the murder of Jane's family.

"Boss, there are more pictures of me than anyone else." stated Rigsby nervously.

Lisbon nodded. "There's something going on here".

"Why would Clauson have these photos of us in there?" asked Van Pelt.

They all knew they'd have to wait until Jane woke up to find out.

**TBC**


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

It was two days later in the early hours of the morning when Patrick finally opened his eyes.

Lisbon was dozing in the chair near his bed and a nurse was checking his pulse when his eyes slowly opened and he blinked, staring up at the ceiling. When

the nurse leaned over into his sight line and smiled, Patrick suddenly became wide awake and shouted a scream. Lisbon quickly awoke in time to watch as

Patrick rolled off the bed and stumbled to the corner of the room, his back slamming against the wall. When the nurse grabbed for him, he dropped to the

ground, pulled up his arms and legs and tucked his head down by his knees.

The nurse quickly pressed the call button by his bed and told the answering nurse to get Dr. Salathiel in there stat, that Mr. Jane was awake and there was a

problem. Lisbon ran to his side and tried to comfort him but he jerked away from her touch, burying his face deeper into his knees.

"Jane? It's me, Lisbon…Jane, please..."

A few minutes later the doctor ran into the room looking at the empty bed and the nurse who pointed to a corner of the room. Walking closer to the nurse he

finally spotted Patrick who had wedged himself as tightly as he could into the corner and Lisbon who was sitting on the floor near him with tears streaming

down her face.

"He won't let me touch him." she said.

The doctor nodded then crouched down next to Patrick.

"Mr. Jane, my name is Dr. Salathiel. You're in a hospital. No one is going to hurt you here. You're safe."

Patrick slowly pulled his head up at the sound of the male voice, his eyes moving back and forth wary of his surroundings.

Staring at his knees he whispered. "I'm safe?"

The doctor nodded. "Yes, no one is going to hurt you here."

Patrick slowly pulled himself to his feet and glanced at the doctor, Lisbon and the nurse without really seeing them then slowly climbed back into his bed and

lay down with his back to them.

"Then this isn't real." he whispered and closed his eyes.

xxxxx

Two days later, Lisbon had gone home to shower and change. She had called the team to apprise them of the situation with Jane. She was going to stay with

him at the hospital until he was better and felt up to talking. She thought about what had happened to him the when his wife and daughter were

murdered...how he ended up in that psychiatric unit. She couldn't let that happen to him again. She'd help him through this.

She bought breakfast in the hospital lobby; a cup of coffee and Danish and headed back to Jane's room. With her head down in thought Lisbon entered his

room quietly closing the door behind her.

"I hope there's something in that bag for me." came a tired but cheery voice behind her.

She spun around and was shocked to see Patrick sitting up in bed smiling at her.

"Jane?"

"Lisbon?" he smiled back and motioned at the bag.

She slowly moved towards his bed then put the coffee and Danish on the table near him and wrapped her arms around him hugging him tight.

"Ow...ow... whoa!" he laughed quietly, patting her gently on the back. "It's okay...it's okay. I'm okay."

Lisbon pulled herself away remembering the bruises on his body.

"Sorry!" she exclaimed; then pulled a chair to his bedside and sat down. "You're okay? How can you be okay?"

Jane looked at the bag on the nightstand. "Really, do you have anything in there? I'm really hungry!"

Lisbon pulled the bag to him and watched as he opened it and dove right into eating the Danish.

"Yes!" he said his eyes rolling in glee.

"Jane?"

Patrick turned to Lisbon then sighed and put the bag aside, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand.

"I don't remember most of it Lisbon, just bits and pieces. But I remember the name of the man. Everett Clauson."

"We know." said Lisbon. We found out a few days ago and went to his home. He shot himself dead in front of us."

"He's dead?"

A look passed over Patrick's face that confused Lisbon. It was like relief and grief combined into one.

"Yes. "

"That's good…How long has it been, Lisbon?"

"It's been four months, Jane. Four months."

Patrick stared at her, then turned and looked at the bag of Danish in his hand.

"We looked everywhere for you." she said.

Patrick glanced at her, his eyes narrowing.

"Did you?"

"Of course, but you were just...gone."

He nodded slowly. "But he's dead now, right?"

"Clauson? Yes."

Patrick's face brightened and he smiled and grabbed the bag of Danish.

"Excellent. Now who do I have to hassle to get a cup of tea around here?"

xxxxx

"I can't believe he's coming back to work already." said Rigsby.

Lisbon glanced at him as she poured a cup of coffee in the CBI kitchen. "He called me and said he was ready."

"Yeah, but it's only been like 3 weeks since he got back!"

They walked back into the central office together.

"He should take some more time." murmured Rigsby.

"I agree." frowned Van Pelt, sitting at her desk. "It's too soon. We don't even know if he's okay, he refused any visitors since you saw him last, boss!"

"He needed some time!" replied Lisbon.

_Please let him be okay…_

Cho leaned back in his chair. "Why don't we just wait until he gets here then we can see for ourselves?"

They all fell silent in agreement.

xxxxx

An hour later Patrick, back in his normal suit and vest, his blond hair cut and back to its normal wavy goodness came sauntering into the office with a box of

donuts and a mile-wide grin on his face.

"Hello folks, miss me?" he grinned.

xxxxx

After being welcomed back by the team Patrick found himself heading up stairs with Lisbon; Director Bertram wanted to talk with him.

"You're okay, right?" asked Lisbon as they climbed the stairs.

"Yes, Lisbon." smiled Patrick; walking up close behind her.

She turned suddenly on the stairs and stopped. "It's just, it's only been a few weeks...and you didn't want anyone visiting you."

"I know, sorry. I...I had some stuff I needed to figure out on my own."

Lisbon stared at him for a beat then turned and continued up the stairs. "Well you better be firing on all cylinders with Bertram; it's up to him if you get to be

back."

"Aye Aye!" he smiled.

_They left you here to die, Patrick. They don't care about you!_

Patrick stumbled on the stairs grabbing the railing.

"Jane?" Lisbon turned to him

He waved her forward. "Stop worrying about everything Lisbon. Go...go..."

xxxxx

Lisbon sat and watched as the director and Patrick sat in a staring match with each other.

Bertram watching him, eyes narrowed; Patrick watching him right back with his normal annoying grin on his face.

Lisbon coughed slightly and Bertram turned to her.

"Do you think he's ready?" he asked, nodding towards Patrick.

The consultant rolled his eyes and Lisbon glanced at him then sat up straight and looked at her boss.

"Sir, if Jane says he's ready, I believe him."

Gale Bertram clenched his teeth, tapping his fingers on his desk. The closure rate had been low ever since Jane had gone missing.

"Fine, you're back." He pointed at Lisbon. "Watch him."

Patrick rolled his eyes again. "I'm right here!"

"Thank you sir." nodded Lisbon. She rose and headed for the door. "Jane, come on."

Patrick smiled at Bertram then followed Lisbon out.

xxxxx

The bedroom was cold; the curtains blew gently against the night wind coming through the open window. Patrick sat on the floor with his back against the

wall, his eyes hooded as he gazed at the bloody smiley face staring back at him from over the mattress. Once he had entered his bedroom he

removed his shoes and socks along with his jacket, vest and shirt. Then he turned on the lamp to the room, then sat down on the floor. He'd been there for

an hour rubbing the cold floor with his fingertips, his mind turning inward.

_I'm just trying to make you see the truth Patrick; you can't trust anyone but me._

_Patrick writhed on the mattress, an i.v. bag held high near the bed pumping drugs into his system._

_"Nooo.." he groaned_

_"Rigsby killed your family! He slaughtered them!"_

_"No!"_

_"I'm not lying Patrick, I care about you, I just want to show you the truth!"_

_"Stop! St…"_

"…OP!" shouted Patrick jerking back, his head slamming against the bedroom wall.

Shivering, he punched the floor in anger then curled up into a fetal position on the ground and closed his eyes.

**TBC**


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

"So what do we got?" asked Lisbon.

The sun was shining high in the sky as she made her way over to where Cho and Van Pelt stood.

Patrick, who had pulled up in his car just behind hers followed closely behind.

They looked down at the man lying sprawled on the front lawn.

"Fifty year old Martin Dove." said Cho. "Gunshot wound to the back of the head. His wife Evelyn is inside. According to his wife she found him outside like

this, this morning."

Lisbon watched as Patrick stepped towards the body. She was worried as he looked like he hadn't gotten any sleep in a while.

"Anything?" asked Lisbon.

"I don't know, Lisbon." Patrick scowled. "How about you give me a damn minute?"

Cho and Van Pelt frowned slightly turning to Lisbon…who frowning herself subtly shook her head at them to keep quiet.

Just then a car pulled up and Rigsby got out and ran towards the team.

"Sorry I'm late boss, busted tire."

Patrick looked up from the body at Rigsby. "Pathetic excuse as usual." he muttered.

"Jane!" said Van Pelt.

He turned to her still scowling; then seemed to catch himself, giving a slight shake then gave her a quick smile.

He looked back at the body then turned to the home. "I'll go have a chat with the wife." he said heading for the house.

"What was that about?" muttered Cho.

"I don't know." sighed Lisbon. "Rigsby, Van Pelt. Start with the neighbours. Cho talk to forensics."

Lisbon turned and followed Patrick into the home.

xxxxx

Minutes later, Lisbon sat flabbergasted as Patrick who had forcibly taken over questioning the wife, proceeded to blast her with accusations and vile

comments.

"Why are you treating me like this!?" cried Evelyn, a mousy-haired woman in a housecoat.

"Oh come on, " snarked Patrick as he leaned forward on the couch. "You weren't satisfied in bed, right? Husband got in the way between you and your lover

and you killed him!"

He ignored every hint from Lisbon to stop what he was doing; until Lisbon physically stood up and shouted at him.

"Jane! Outside! Now!"

The look of disdain he gave her made her flinch as if she'd been slapped. That's when Evelyn suddenly covered her face with her hands and cried out.

"Okay, I did it! I killed him! I killed him!"

Patrick, his eyes narrowing at Lisbon, smirked in satisfaction then turned back to the distraught woman.

"I did it!" she cried. "The bastard was cheating on me for the past five years and he would just gloat about it to my face! I couldn't take it anymore! I …I..."

Lisbon watched as Patrick's face paled.

"You killed him because...he betrayed you?" he asked.

Evelyn nodded emphatically through her tears. "Yes! I couldn't let him get away with it anymore! I just couldn't!"

Patrick stood and walked over to Evelyn; Lisbon's eyes widened as she heard him whisper in the woman's ear.

"Good for you. He deserved it."

Then he turned, hands in pocket and sauntered out of the room.

xxxxx

"I think you came back too soon." said Lisbon, watching Patrick from across her desk.

He was sitting calmly on her couch watching her, his eyes pleasant but intense.

"Really now Lisbon, why would you think that?"

"I don't know, how about what happened at the Dove home?"

"What, when I got the wife to confess?" he smirked.

Lisbon leaned back in her chair. "Do you want to talk about it; a….about anything? You can trust me, Jane."

Patrick's eyes narrowed, then he smiled and rose from the couch.

"I'm going to make a cup of tea." he headed for her door. "Do you want some?" he left her office, closing the door behind him not waiting for a reply.

xxxxx

"So what if there is something wrong with him?"

"Excuse me?" asked Lisbon a little astonished.

Gale Bertram leaned back in his chair and looked at his agent.

"Agent Lisbon, Jane has always been "off" so to speak. Has he not been closing cases?"

Lisbon sighed. In the week since Jane had returned to work he had indeed started to close cases making Bertram and the powers-that-be in the upper offices

extremely happy.

"Yes, sir; but..."

"But nothing, Lisbon; closing cases is all that matters. If Jane starts robbing banks or anything of that nature then we can talk." Bertram's phone rang at that

moment and he picked it up turning away from her.

xxxxx

Cho stood on the balcony overlooking the office. He leaned on the railing looking down at Patrick, who was sitting on his couch drinking tea.

The consultant smiled at something Van Pelt said then took another sip of tea.

Cho breathed deeply. Something was off with Jane.

He watched as Patrick looked over at Rigsby who was deep in conversation on the phone and Cho saw Patrick's body tense immediately. The tea cup in his

handstarted to sway as his hand shook. His other hand Cho noticed, was clenching and unclenching into a fist by his side.

Patrick looked normal enough from his blonde hair to his suit and vest and scuffed shoes; everything was how it was before he was abducted.

_Except something wasn't._

Cho slowly walked down the steps then stood at the entrance to the office. Patrick didn't even glance in his direction. His whole being was taken up in

watching Rigsby who was still oblivious to being the subject of Patrick's attention.

Cho slowly walked over to the couch and stood in front of Patrick, who still didn't seem to notice him. His breath was heavy as he glared at Rigsby, eyes

hooded.

"Jane." said Cho.

No response.

"Jane?" Cho repeated.

Patrick's head spun towards him, eyes widened at the sudden intrusion of space.

"Cho, yes?" he smiled charismatically, eyes bright.

And then Cho saw it. Like a shadow, a darkness crossed over Jane's face and his eyes flashed and for a split second Cho saw rage; complete and utter rage

emanating from his friend's face.

Then in a flash it was gone..and the smiling golden boy was back.

Cho's eyes narrowed and he nodded slightly. "You doin' okay?"

"Never better good sir…never better." smiled Patrick. "Now if you'll excuse me, I think I'll finish my tea upstairs."

He moved aside and watched as Patrick headed off to his attic space.

Cho didn't scare easily at all, but he'd seen the same stare that Patrick had given Rigsby on other people who had lost control, feeding upon a darkness inside

of themselves.

He had sent away a lot of people like that; some to prison, some to the morgue.

xxxxx

Patrick barely made it to his attic space and pulled the door shut before the tea cup he was grasping slipped from his trembling hand onto the ground. He

slowly made his way over to the bed and sat on the edge of it grasping his hands together to stop them from shaking.

_What's wrong with me!? _He thought, then closed his eyes tightly and fell back into a darkness in his mind.

_The more you struggle Patrick, the tighter you're going to make it._

_Patrick shuffled forward on his knees trying to get away, his fingers trying to pull at the rope, but the chains, shorter now around his wrists and ankles held_

_ him in place as the rope dug tighter and tighter around his neck._

_Clauson sat on the ground behind him twisting the rope every time Patrick inched forward._

_Stop moving Patrick, give in to me._

_Tears slipped from Patrick's eyes as he gagged, his face turning a deep red. Finally he fell back against Clauson in defeat and Clauson released the rope. He _

_grasped Patrick around his chest with one arm pulling him up against him and with his other hand opened up a file filled with photos._

_Wayne Rigsby killed your family, Patrick._

_Patrick gazed at the photo of Rigsby that Clauson pushed in front of him._

_Your precious wife and child... Another photo...the crime scene._

_Lisbon knew about it... A photo of Lisbon leaving her home._

_I want to help you Patrick, I'm trying to get you to see the truth! hissed Clauson, in his ear._

_Patrick broke into tears, holding his head in one hand and grasping Clauson's arm pulling it tighter to him._

Patrick slipped off the bed onto the ground his whole body trembling. He pulled his knees up to his chest and turned his head to the hiding place where he

kept the gun Max Armstrong had given him, then he lowered his head and let the rage envelop him.

xxxxx

"Something's wrong with Jane."

Cho walked into Lisbon's office the next morning closing the door behind him.

Lisbon who had just sat down with her morning coffee sighed and motioned for Cho to sit.

"I know, Cho."

"So what are we going to do about it?"

"I don't know what to do. He won't talk to me and Bertram is happy with all the cases he's been closing."

"There's a problem between him and Rigsby."

Lisbon leaned forward, "What do you mean."

"He's been acting out towards Rigsby for a while now; there's …there's been a few incidences."

"What incidences?!" Lisbon felt her worry grow.

Cho told her about an incident that happened a week before where Patrick had stormed into an interrogation that Rigsby was doing and began to insult the

agent right in front of the suspect to the point where Rigsby left the room and Patrick had followed close behind. There was an altercation in the hallway

where he goaded Rigsby into almost punching him and when he didn't , Patrick called him a vile word then had laughed and walked away.

"What!" shouted Lisbon "Why wasn't I told!?"

Cho kept his voice level. "We were hoping the outbursts would pass."

Cho stood and came closer to the desk sitting on the edge of it. "Boss, do you remember the photos we found in the cellar where Jane was kept?"

Lisbon nodded.

"Most of them were of Rigsby." stated Cho.

Lisbon frowned, her mind turning inward. A moment later she looked up at Cho.

"I think we need to talk to Jane…right now."

Lisbon strode from the office followed by Cho, she turned the corner and glanced at Rigsby's desk; he wasn't there; neither was Patrick on his couch. She

looked at her watch; both of them were usually in by this time. Lisbon looked at Van Pelt who just gotten off the phone.

"Van Pelt, have you heard from Jane or Rigsby?"

"No." said Van Pelt. "I was just trying to call Rigsby. It just keeps going to voicemail."

Lisbon yanked out her phone and dialled Jane's cellphone; then gritted her teeth as the sound of his voicemail kicked in. "Dammit!"

"Boss?" asked Van Pelt worry evident on her face.

"Have you noticed Jane acting out towards Rigsby?" Lisbon asked her.

"He's ...he's been high-strung lately and…"

"Yes, but have you seen him acting out towards Rigsby in particular?"

Van Pelt nodded her head eye widening. "We let it go. Rigsby figured Jane was just angry about what had happened to him, so he didn't say anything."

"Okay, we keep this quiet for now. Cho and I are going to head over to Rigsby's. You stay here and if either of them show up or call in let us know." Lisbon

and Cho turned to leave.

"No!" shouted Van Pelt. Lisbon spun back.

"I'm coming with you." said Van Pelt quieter. "They're my team too."

A beat and then Lisbon nodded and they all ran from the building to the SUV.

**TBC**


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

_Earlier that morning._

Patrick sat in his car a block from Rigsby's home. He'd been sitting there for several hours contemplating what he was about to do. Earlier, under the cover of

dark he had let out the air of one of Rigsby's tires then had popped the trunk and let out the air from the spare tire. Back in his car he stared at the gun that

lay on the passenger seat, then pulled his cell phone out. He should just call Lisbon; She'd know what to do...she'd come and help him. Patrick's hand started

to shake...

"No!" He couldn't let Rigsby get away with what he'd done to his family.

"God, you're so stupid Patrick, he was right in front of you all along!" he groaned. He picked up the gun with his free hand and pressed the side of it against

his forehead.

"I don't know what I'm doing… Lisbon please help me." he whispered.

He sat like that until movement from down the street caught his attention.

Rigsby had just left his home and was heading for his car. Patrick looked up, his eyes zeroing in on Rigsby on the monster Red John. He moved the gun to the

driver's side door then he took a deep breath drawing from inside himself the most non-chalant grin he could muster then started the car. As he drew close to

Rigsby's home, Patrick, taking a last look at his cellphone scowled at it, then rolled down his window and threw the phone out onto the street.

xxxxx

Rigsby was just shutting his trunk in anger when Patrick drove up.

"Hey Rigsby." Patrick said leaning across the passenger seat and looking out the window.

"Jane?" Rigsby walked down the car. 'What are you doing here?"

"Lisbon wanted me to pass by. We got a case. She wanted to make sure you weren't late."

"Oh come on, I was late once!"

"Brother, I'm just the messenger." grinned Patrick. "Uh...problem with your car?"

"Yeah, I got a flat and the spare is useless."

"Well, good thing I came by then." he smiled and pushed open the passenger side door. "Your chariot awaits."

Rigsby frowned slightly, wondering why he didn't get the call and wondering why Lisbon would ask Jane to go so far out of his way to check on him, but a

case was a case and he did not want to fall into the boss's bad graces again; so he climbed into the car and Patrick smiled at him. A smile that seemed

strange to Rigsby, but a smile just the same so he nodded to Patrick and they drove off.

xxxxx

It was two hours later when Lisbon, Cho and Van Pelt drove up to Rigsby's home.

"His car is still in the driveway, maybe nothing's wrong." hoped Van Pelt.

She rang the doorbell then banged on the door.

No answer.

"Wait, I know where he hides his spare key!"

Van Pelt dug in the soil near the front door and produced a fake rock; inside was the spare key.

She opened the door and pulled her gun. Lisbon followed her in and the called out for their team mate.

A few minutes later after checking the whole house and not finding him they walked from the home and found Cho kneeling by the side of Rigsby's car.

"Tire's flat." He stated.

"Maybe he took a cab." said Van Pelt.

Cho stood and walked towards them his hand extended. "I found this a few feet down the street."

Lisbon's eyes widened. In Cho's hand was Patrick's smashed cell phone.

"We need to get help with this, boss." said Cho.

"No...no not yet. Let's just think a minute. Jane isn't thinking properly. We just need to figure out where he'd go."

"Maybe he went home?" suggested Van Pelt.

"That's possible," said Cho.

"Yes, but…maybe…"

"What boss?" said Van Pelt.

"I think Clauson did something to Jane."

"Yeah, he tortured him." stated Cho.

"No, I mean. Maybe he did something else. There were more pictures of Rigsby in that room, than any of us…and Jane, when he heard that that woman

Evelyn Dove had killed her husband because he betrayed her, I saw Jane's face… he had practically praised her for killing the man.

"So what, this has to do with betrayal?" frowned Van Pelt.

"Clauson most likely abducted Jane because he blamed him for his half-brother murdering their father. What if this was some sort of payback? What if

Clauson made Jane think that we betrayed him somehow; that we turned against him…Rigsby in particular?

"That would explain a lot." said Cho.

"Jane would want to retaliate." said Van Pelt.

Lisbon closed her eyes, thinking back. "He seemed almost sad when I told him that Clauson had died. I…I think we should check out Clauson's place."

"Boss, there were lots of photos of Rigsby there, and the crime scene...Jane's family." hissed Cho.

Lisbon's eyes widened. "Let's go!" she ordered.

They ran for the car.

xxxxx

_Earlier_

Rigsby looked out the passenger side window.

"Jane, where are we going?"

"To the case." smiled Patrick his eyes on the road, void of emotion.

"Yeah, but where's the case?"

Patrick ignored him and kept driving. He subtly moved his left hand off the steering wheel and grasped the gun in the driver's side door.

Just then, Rigsby recognized the area in which they were driving.

"Jane, the Clauson house? We're going there? But..."

"There was a murder." said Jane, tapping his fingers on the steering wheel. "A body was found in the home."

"I'm going to call the boss." said Rigsby, his hair on the back of this neck starting to raise.

"Don't bother. We're just about there. You can talk to her face to face."

Five minutes later they pulled into the lot in front of the Clauson home.

Patrick had found the address to the home in his case file that he had "borrowed" from Lisbon's office. He swallowed heavily as he looked at the home that

was his prison hell and his salvation.

He had found his answers here.

"…are they?"

Patrick turned to Rigsby who was looking at him curiously.

"I'm sorry, what?"

"I said where are they? Where are all the cars?"

Patrick chuckled softly. "Come on, I want to show you something." He turned and got out of the car, the gun held in front of him out of Rigsby's sight.

Rigsby watched warily as Patrick walked around the side of the car and stood in front of the home…and he felt torn. Though Jane had been treating him like

crap lately he still considered him a friend...and the way Jane was acting right now it really looked like he needed one.

Patrick turned his head towards the car. "Come along, Rigsby.'"

Rigsby sighed and got out.. "Jane, I should really call the boss."

As Rigsby got closer to him, Patrick stuck the gun in his waist band and buttoned his jacket.

He touched Rigsby on the arm, "Sorry. I lied about the case. I...I just needed you to come out here with me. I just needed to see this place."

_This felt so wrong. This wasn't like Jane at all...Jane wanting his company? Usually he and Lisbon were stuck at the hip. Maybe he didn't want Lisbon to see _

_him like this…all emotional._

Rigsby sighed. "Okay Jane, I'm with you."

The both walked into the home, Patrick removing the crime scene tape from the front door. They slowly walked through the hallway, Patrick quietly taking in

every nook and cranny of the home of the man who changed his life. Then they finally arrived in the kitchen and at the doorway that led to the cellar. The

door was flung open onto the dark stairway; Patrick stood at the top of the stairs.

"Clauson kept me down there." he whispered.

"Jane, I know. Maybe you shouldn't be doing this." said Rigsby, shaking his head sadly.

Patrick turned aside and held the back of one of the kitchen chairs for support.

"I know..I..I have to go down there..I just have to see."

Rigsby nodded.

"Can..can you come with me?"

Rigsby frowned. "Uh..sure..sure Jane."

Patrick turned hesitantly to the stairwell, motioning Rigsby to go first. Rigsby pulled out his flashlight and started down. And behind him, Patrick's face turned

from hesitant and scared to pure rage and he grabbed the chair he was leaning on and smashed it against the back of Rigsby's head.

Rigsby grunted in surprise and flew half way down the stairs tumbling down the rest of them and landed in a heap at the bottom.

Patrick stood at the top of the stairs and looked down at Rigsby inert body. He flung the remnants of the wooden chair he was holding aside and then with a

flash in his eyes slowly started down the stairs.

When he got to the bottom, he heard a faint ringing. Rummaging through Rigsby's jacket he pulled out his cellphone. "Ahh" he said looking down at Rigsby's

unconscious body. "Van Pelt's calling."

He took the phone and smashed it against the side of the stairs.

"We're a little busy right now." he growled. Then he opened the door to the darkened room and slowly dragged Rigsby inside.

**TBC**


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

_Present time_

"Boss, boss..you gotta slow down!" shouted Van Pelt from the back seat as she held on as the SUV took a corner at full speed.

Cho, pressing his hand against the dashboard to steady himself, turning to Lisbon who looked like she was about to fly through the windshield in her

eagerness to get to the house.

Then he turned back to the dashboard and held on for all his might.

xxxxx

The first thing Rigsby noticed was how cold he was.

Then the pain hit; like a jackhammer to his head making him moan.

Rigsby slowly opened his eyes blinking heavily and gazed at the dirty grey ceiling above.

"What the…?"

Groaning, he slowly tried to pull himself up but only got a few inches when he realized he couldn't lift his arms.

His eyes widened when he saw that his arms were tied down; jerking forward he found that he also couldn't lift his legs. When he looked towards his feet

that's when Rigsby saw that he was completely nude and was laying on a bed..in a room...in... _Oh God!_ He was laying on _that_ bed in _that _room!

Rigsby convulsed wildly trying to break the restraints.

_Oh no no no..this is NOT happening!_

"Jane!" he yelled. "JANE!"

He heard a chair move and he tilted his head back and watched as Patrick pulled a chair around to the side of the bed and sat down. He had removed his

jacket and vest, his dress shirt was opened at the collar, its sleeves rolled up.

"Jane! What are you doing? Let me go!"

Patrick just sat in the chair and stared at him.

"Come on!" Rigsby glanced down at his naked body. "Where are my clothes!?"

Patrick leaned forward in the chair.

"You know, I'm not a trusting man, Rigsby; but I considered you my friend. I let you in...You must have been having a good laugh behind my back."

"What?! No...no..! We _are _friends Jane. Just untie me and let me get my clothes on and we can talk."

"Talk? Talk about what? How you murdered my wife and child?"

Rigsby stopped moving. "What?! Jane what are you talking about?!"

"You're Red John." growled Patrick through gritted teeth.

"No!...No, I'm not!" Rigsby started struggling again trying to free himself.

Patrick leaned to the side and grabbed a tote bag from underneath the bed; he had taken it from the trunk of his car while Rigsby was unconscious.

"I know why you did it." Patrick whispered as he put the bag on his lap. "Cause you thought I was arrogant, wanted to prove you were better than me...didn't

like how I spoke ill of you in public. You could have just scared them...You didn't have to ...you didn't have to..."

Rigsby watched as Patrick rubbed the sides of his face with his hands.

"Jane." whispered Rigsby. "Please."

When Patrick pulled his hands away his eyes looked wild, almost feral. He pulled out a billy club, taser and rope from the bag.

"Clauson told me the truth." Patrick whispered. He stood and dropped everything but the billy club by the side of the chair; he gripped the club tightly.

"Now it's my turn to play."

xxxxx

The SUV screeched to a halt in front of the Clauson home and Lisbon, Cho and Van Pelt jumped out.

They saw Patrick's car; Cho lay his hand on the hood.

"It's cold." he whispered. "They've been here awhile."

Lisbon motioned for Van Pelt to go around back and she and Cho eased through the front door guns raised. They had started going room to room when they

heard Van Pelt hiss.

"Boss, back here!"

They arrived in the kitchen to find Van Pelt standing at the top of the stairs that led to the cellar; the remains of a kitchen chair by her feet. She had her

flashlight trained on the chair.

'There's blood on it."

They stared at the chair, then turned as one to the darkened stairway in front of them. Cho moved first heading down followed by Lisbon then Van Pelt; at

the bottom of the stairs they found Rigsby's crushed phone.

That's when they heard soft signs of a struggle coming from the room ahead.

Lisbon's heart beat heavy in her chest as Cho busted through the door, then they all ran into the room, guns raised.

What they saw shocked them into lowering their guns.

xxxxx

The bulb light swung heavily, casting the room into moving shadows.

"Wayne!" shouted Van Pelt.

They watched in horror as Rigsby, nude and tethered to the bed struggled to breathe as Patrick stood behind the bed twisting a rope that he had wrapped

around Rigsby's neck. The swinging light caught the crazed look in his eyes.

"JANE!" screamed Lisbon. "STOP!"

Patrick looked up at them and they raised their guns at him. He let go of the rope, laughing; Rigsby's head slumped back to the bed and he stopped moving.

"I got him, Lisbon, I got Red John!" Patrick shouted.

"Oh God…Jane!" cried Lisbon.

"I finally got him! It's over!"

Lisbon, her gun still aimed at Patrick, motioned for Cho and Van Pelt to get Rigsby out of the room. Van Pelt ran to the bed and was relieved when she heard

Rigsby softly groan. He was alive.

"Wait, where are you taking him?!"

"We need to get him some help, Jane." said Lisbon. She turned to watch Cho and Van Pelt pull Rigsby off the bed and with Cho carrying the brunt of Rigsby's

weight they started for the door.

"No!" shouted Patrick; and Lisbon turned in time to see him pull a gun that he had stuck in the back of his waistband, aiming it at the departing team.

"Come back here! I have to make sure he's dead!"

Lisbon stepped in between them and Patrick.

"Go!" she ordered them.

She heard them move off and begin the climb up the stairs.

Patrick hadn't lowered the gun.

"You let him leave? Lisbon, that was Red John and you let him _leave!?"_

"Jane, put the gun down!" Lisbon ordered. "That wasn't Red John. That was Rigsby!"

"Rigsby IS Red John!"

Patrick waved the gun back and forth in the air emphasising the veracity of his words.

"Is that what Clauson told you?"

"Clauson told me the truth...He made me see what was right in front of me all along!"

"Jane, Clauson tortured you, he messed with your head!"

"No!"

Lisbon took a step towards Patrick.

"He knew how much you hated Red John, so he used that hatred against you; for revenge for what we did to his half-brother!"

"You're lying!" he shouted and took a step towards her, the gun aimed tightly at her chest."

"Jane, do you see what he's done to you? You hate guns...and look what you're aiming at me!"

Patrick looked down at the gun in his hand, confusion washing over his face.

"You…you knew Rigsby was Red John all along. Clauson told me...He said you protected him!"

"Clauson was lying! I don't know who Red John is and if I did I would never protect him!"

Lisbon took another step toward Patrick and slowly with obvious intent lowered her gun and placed it on the bed, then held both her hands up by her side.

"Jane, put the gun down!"

"He-he said that you were all in on it...and ..."

"He was lying Jane... We would never hurt you like that..."

Patrick's hand began to shake, the gun lowering slightly; he ran his other hand through his hair.

"He said that you never even looked for me..."

"We looked for you for months, Jane…months!"

"THEN WHY DIDN"T YOU FIND ME!" he screamed.

He shuffled backwards, his back hitting the wall behind him, then he slowly slid down to the ground.

Lisbon carefully made her way over and sat down on the ground next to him. Watching him cautiously, she slowly took the gun from his limp hand.

"You forgot about me." whispered Patrick; gripping his hair with both hands. "You left me here with _him..._you didn't even look."

"We did look Jane, I promise you...we did. I'm so sorry...I'm so sorry."

Lisbon gripped one of his hands and pulled it to her chest.

"Jane, I'd never forget you."

Patrick shuddered slightly then turned to her, tears streaming down his face.

"Oh God Lisbon, what have I done?! What have I done?!"

He leaned over and laid his head in her lap.

"Oh God," he whispered. "What have I done?"

"I got you Jane." whispered Lisbon, tears flowing from her eyes.

"I got you."

**TBC**


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

_1 month later_

Lisbon looked out her brother's kitchen window as she washed the dishes, at Patrick was sitting on the picnic bench in the back yard.

After the events that happened at the Clauson home a month before, Director Bertram was ready to fire Patrick; but after a quiet talk with Rigsby, Bertram

told Lisbon that the consultant would be allowed to continue at the CBI if he took some personal time to get his life straight.

Lisbon had tried to ask Rigsby what he had said to the Director, but he wouldn't talk to her about it.

Rigsby had spent a few days in the hospital recuperating with extensive bruising on his body and a massive rope burn around his neck. When Lisbon, Van Pelt

and Cho had visited him in the hospital he had kept his eyes trained on the wall and barely said a word to them.

Later, Cho had come to her. After some pushing, Rigsby had confided in him that he thought Patrick was an asset to the team, but that Patrick scared him

when Rigsby saw what the strength of an obsession could do to someone. Rigsby wouldn't press charges against him, but he couldn't work with him again

until Patrick could get help.

_Help._ thought Lisbon.

Patrick had refused to set foot in a hospital. So Lisbon had done the next best thing she could think of. Taking a leave of absence, she brought him with her to

her brother's home. Her brother and his family had gone out of town and he had told her that she could stay at his home and that he hoped everything

worked out.

So she took Patrick away, away from everything, hoping that he would be able to clear his mind here, to "re-start" so to speak.

xxxxx

He didn't speak the first week they were there. She would often catch him just staring at nothing, his eyes full and far away. Some nights she would go into

his room holding on to his thrashing body as she tried to shake him out of his latest screaming nightmare. Later, Lisbon would lay down next to him; clasping

her hand in his, listening to his hitching breaths in the darkness. She never said anything to him; she would just lay there in the dark, hoping that her touch

would somehow ground him, make him start to trust again.

The following weeks, she saw the spark start to come back into his eyes. Then his voice returned and they would converse over dinner; Patrick jokingly

mocking her cooking abilities and Lisbon laughing as she agreed with him.

xxxxx

Lisbon turned off the water and dried her hands. There was a chill in the air, so she put on one of her brother's thick sweaters then walked outside to join

Patrick.

He was in the midst of trying to fold a leaf into some shape when she sat next to him.

He glanced over at her.

He looked good. He had filled out some, from her horrible home cooking and his face had lost that haunted look that had held him for so long. He wore a dark

blue knitted sweater and jeans; his hair shone in the crisp sunlight.

He looked at ease...and that made Lisbon happy.

"Think you can make a frog out of that?" she smiled.

"Yes." he grinned. "Just you watch me."

xxxxx

They stayed one more week then Patrick told her that it was time to go back, to go home; he was itching to get back to work.

She heartily agreed; so they packed up and two days later they headed home.

**TBC**


	12. Epilogue

**Epilogue**

Rigsby lay stretched out on his couch, eating take-out that Van Pelt had dropped by the day before; a sports show was on the tv, the volume turned down

low.

He had extended his sick leave and had spent most of his time laying on the couch staring blankly at the t.v as his mind kept going back to _that_ day in _that_

house a month before. It was like a cassette stuck on replay and he was lost to it.

The doorbell rang.

Rigsby slowly pulled himself to his feet, wincing at the pain in his side. The bruises had mostly faded but the underlying pain was still there, the constant ache

depressed him. Moving carefully to the door he peered through the peephole, surprised when he saw who it was.

"Boss!" he exclaimed as he opened the door. "I didn't know you were back!"

Lisbon smiled at him, sadness in her eyes. Rigsby looked better than he did when she last saw him. She could still see some of the bruises on his arms and

neck but they had faded dramatically. It was the look in his eyes that saddened her; it was the same haunted look that Jane had.

"Rigsby, how you are you doin?"

"I'm okay, you know…dealin.."

Lisbon nodded. "I should have called you. I'm sorry, I..."

Rigsby waved his hand at her. "It's okay, I wasn't much for talking anyway…" his eyes darkened a little. "How...how's Jane?"

Lisbon bit her lip like she was thinking of something. "Feel up for a ride?" she asked.

"A ride? Uh...no...I'm...kinda busy." he murmured, pointing his thumb at the tv.

Lisbon nodded. "Come for a ride with me, Rigsby."

They stared at each other for a moment then Rigsby sighed, relenting.

"Okay boss." He shut the tv off, grabbed his jacket and followed her out to her car.

They drove in relative silence until Rigsby recognized the route they were taking.

"Boss?" he whispered.

"It's okay, Rigsby..."

A few minutes later as they got closer, Lisbon noticed Rigsby gripping his leg tightly, his arm trembling.

"Boss...stop the car."

Lisbon reached out with her right hand and touched his trembling arm.

"Wayne. Trust me, okay?"

He didn't look at her, but she watched as he turned to the passenger side window squeezing his eyes shut.

xxxxx

Ten minutes later, they pulled in front of Clauson's home; Lisbon parking a little distant from the house.

By then Rigsby's whole body was visibly trembling, then when he saw Patrick's car parked up ahead of them , Rigsby jumped from the parked car and began

pacing.

"What the hell?" he hissed. "Boss, I can't...I don't…"

Lisbon got out of the car and turned, leaning against the roof of the car motioning towards the house.

Rigsby turned to see Patrick coming out of the front door pouring the last of a small container of gasoline on the ground in front of the doorway; then he put

down the container and pulled out a lighter for Rigsby to see.

Rigsby turned to Lisbon. "Arson? Boss, I can't...we can get in major trouble…"

Lisbon smiled at him.

"Some things are worth it." she said then got back in the car, leaned back and closed her eyes.

Rigsby stood for a moment thinking deeply, then slowly made his way over to Patrick.

They both looked at the home and not each other.

"Jane, what are we doing?"

Patrick turned and faced him, then lifted Rigsby's hand, put the lighter in it then closed his hand over Rigsby's fist, holding it tight.

Patrick looked him directly in the eyes.

"I'm sorry, Wayne. I'm so sorry for what I did to you."

Rigsby flinched at the deep honesty he felt in Patrick's words and from the look in his eyes.

"Jane." he whispered, turning back to the house, his eyes heavy. "I get it...I know what he did to you... but it's just been so hard...trying to forgive…

trying to forget."

Patrick let go of Rigsby's hand and turned back to the house, nodding.

"This house," said Patrick. "This reminder for us...getting rid of it is one step in the right direction, don't you think?"

Smiling sadly, he looked at Rigsby. "I won't tell if you won't."

Rigsby stared at the lighter in his hand, then at the house. Then taking a deep breath, he stepped forward, his steps surer and surer as he got closer. When

he got close enough he stopped, flicked the lighter and tossed it through the door way.

His heart beating rapidly in his chest, Rigsby waited until he caught sight of the first bloom of fire making its way across the entrance of the home, then he

slowly backed away until once again he stood next to Patrick.

Within minutes the house was totally engulfed in flames…and Lisbon watched from the car as the two men stood side by side, starting to lay their demons to

rest.

She smiled to herself, then started her car and drove off.

xxxxx

Once they were sure that the house could not be salvaged, that the flames would burn away every last shadow that the home held; and with sirens echoing in

the distance, Patrick turned and headed back to his car.

Rigsby turned, and they walked together.

**The End.**

**Well, that's it folks. It was fun to write this… hope you enjoyed it! **

**I'd love to know your thoughts on this! =)**


End file.
